Paint rollers are common, well-known tools used to apply coatings to walls, ceilings and other structures. In the most basic terms, a paint roller includes a handle, a frame, a rotating cage carried by the frame and a tube like roller core carried by the rotatable cage. Positioned on the roller core is a nap suitable for absorbing and transferring coating material.
In normal use, a person applies paint or other coating material to the nap by rolling the nap through a pan tray or other container holding the coating material then transfers the coating material to the desired surface by rolling the nap over the surface. Unfortunately, some coatings are not readily absorbed by the nap. As a result, the nap does not readily pickup coating material from a roller tray. If the nap does not generate sufficient friction with the pan to roll evenly, the roller will slide through the roller tray precluding even distribution of the coating material around the roller nap. Further, some coatings have a consistency that precludes constant smooth rotation of the roller core during application of the coating to the surface. The inconsistent or uneven application of coating material to the nap and inconsistent rolling of the nap/roller core during application to a surface produces a coating of inconsistent thickness and quality on the desired surface and/or can require unnecessary time to apply properly.
Additionally, roller applicators commonly used to apply surface coatings such as paint and other liquid material, do not readily absorb higher density materials in the roller nap. When transferring such coating material to the roller applicator, the nap does not produce sufficient friction with the surface of the container to allow the roller to roll through the coating material.